Untitled Free Verse

I will write your story with my tears

blotted notebook, ink barely legible

You want to be known, loved, held

searching for someone who can understand

and won't abandon

You mask your troubles in fancy labels, ironed tops, and groomed brows.

But I see the glimpses of insecurity

Crunching away your sadness to the perfect abs

Supping on fresh salads, sushi, and organic smoothies

We dined together once

But I knew you no better before than after

A shadow hangs above you;

Can you see it?

Or have you gotten so used to the shade

that it seems like any other day?

You peddle your hours away in the white-walled box

or hobnobbing with elites and expensive diners

trying to make it to the top

or maybe, just getting by for now

Then you return home for a few drinks and some tv

A nice relief, they say, after a long day

On weekends you go out

Maybe for a show

Or maybe to a party.

It's all about seeing and being seen.

You make small talk.

You flirt.

Things look promising;

there's dancing, drinks, and more small talk

Life ticks faster everyday

and you wonder where it went

Wake up to thirty five

and say, have I lost myself?

The last thing you want to hear is yes

But the answer is likely lurking in the rearview

with ever-increasing clarity.

When was enough ever enough?

It never was nor will be.

Always more people to meet

More money and connections to make

More causes to fight

And wars to win

Economy slumps down

Then catapults back up

It's a rollercoaster

And we're all riding

Only problem is there are no seatbelts

I taste salt as the droplets slip down my cheek

Stare out into the sunset

And say, "something's gotta change"

Have you heard the slightest traces

of something altogether different?

Friends sitting around a table sharing life with one another

Glasses filled with lemonade

No money for good wine, but nobody minds.

Freshly cooked veg straight from mom's garden

No plans for the weekend but it's really just as fine

Some gardening, a stroll around town, to the market

Head buried in a book on Friday night

it's hardly the barking chant of HSB's elite

but something here is right

Somewhere in the world life is being lived

well

Children tucked softly away in bed

with no fear that daddy's coming home late

he's already home.

asleep. arms wrapped around mommy.

Old men passing the time in rocking chairs

telling stories from "the good old days"

Neighborhood get-togethers on the veranda

Citronella candles and cool iced-tea making the steamy summer evening bearable

It's hardly glamourous

But it's incredible.

Tears dry.

There's hope.

Take off the mask

and drop the pretenses

step into the sunshine

I know you're dying for a Saturday afternoon walk in the park

An evening feeding the geese at the waterside

Skip the playdate and take the kids for a picnic

Drop the camera and just be

You can't be everything they want you to be

and you don't want to

Heart begins to race with excitement

The laughlines peek out from hiding

and eyes sparkle with wonder

Never doubt again that such a thing is possible

It's spectacular for all it's simplicity.

Tears of sadness turned to tears of joy.

Never forget, there's always tomorrow.